adrenal fatigue

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  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
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    I can't even imagine how frustrating this must be. I use to be in great shape, but my losing that was by my own lack of motivation, and it still frustrates me! I will say keep going, keep asking, keep insisting something is wrong. Doctors are only human too and they make mistakes. If you let it just become your norm they will let it be too.

    Thank you. I plan to keep trying. I force myself to go to the gym almost every day just to keep the habit. My only rule is showing up. Once there I am allowed to take a nap if that is what I want, but I have to be there. Usually I just walk the treadmill very slowly and do some stretches. I try to run and do other things, but most days it just is not happening.

    I am very hopeful with the days getting longer and the sun coming out that will help - I always have a little S.A.D. that happens in winter, but nothing anywhere close to this.
  • starwhisperer6
    starwhisperer6 Posts: 402 Member
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    aylajane wrote: »

    I can't even imagine how frustrating this must be. I use to be in great shape, but my losing that was by my own lack of motivation, and it still frustrates me! I will say keep going, keep asking, keep insisting something is wrong. Doctors are only human too and they make mistakes. If you let it just become your norm they will let it be too.

    Thank you. I plan to keep trying. I force myself to go to the gym almost every day just to keep the habit. My only rule is showing up. Once there I am allowed to take a nap if that is what I want, but I have to be there. Usually I just walk the treadmill very slowly and do some stretches. I try to run and do other things, but most days it just is not happening.

    I am very hopeful with the days getting longer and the sun coming out that will help - I always have a little S.A.D. that happens in winter, but nothing anywhere close to this.

    Have you ask about wellbutrin or something similar for the SAD?
  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
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    No, exercise has been extremely helpful for keeping mood issues at bay, and I prefer it that way. I really dislike taking any medications that change my personality or mood or thinking processes. In the past I have tried a few medications but found that in the last few years with working out regularly I dont need them. Of course, this winter is very different since my workouts are suffering. My doctor was totally on board with the exercise replacing any antidepressant type medication so I thought she would be more helpful with trying to figure out what is happening since in general NOTHING keeps me from working out. It has been the highlight of my day for years. I love it. I just cant seem to do anything anymore. I keep trying though. I see a personal trainer twice a week still (for almost 3 years) - he insisted I see the doc when he saw how fast my lifts were falling and how much I was struggling to get through our sessions.
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
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    aylajane wrote: »
    Just curious for those who are saying adrenal fatigue is not real... I am just starting to do some research on this after having been to an endocrinologist who said that while my cortisol is low, my testosterone is way low, d is low and b12 is super high - nothing is outside "normal" range except testosterone, but that "rarely causes issues in women". This is a very highly regarded endo. I actually could not stay awake while he was talking to me. But his final result for me was "not endocrine related" and sent me back to my primary doc.

    Someone suggested I look up adrenal fatigue and I almost fell over - EVERY SINGLE SYMPTOM on their list is why I went to my primary doc in the first place.

    In my limited research so far, I see two very different camps - it is real but unrecognized, or - like here - it is made up and you should go see a "real" doc.

    So I am a little lost on what to do now. I am excited that my symptoms correspond with other peoples, but i am not a "snake oil" type person and I firmly believe there must be a cause (diet, perimenopause, etc). I have tried the doctor route and am now desperate for help or something to try - but I am on my own as doctors say I am fine.

    Do you all have any other insight on this? I.e. if people who seek these naturopaths are suffering from a condition that is not real, but all have very common collection of symptoms, what is the "other" diagnosis that is being missed? Other options to look into that would mimic this?

    My thought right now is simply to try what I can that doesnt require paying someone and I already know is healthy - Ie. following an elimination type diet, using the AFS guidelines on what to eat. Getting more and better sleep, etc. But I dont want to spend months on this and still have same issue because there was an actual medical cause everyone missed.

    Any insight is appreciated.

    But the endocrinologist did NOT diagnose you with adrenal fatigue, right?

    The only way you actually have such as thing is if you have a primary diagnosis of Addison's, panhypopituitarism, etc. A real endocrinologist would be treating you for these things. You would be taking daily injections, tons of pills, and perhaps steroids.

    The rest is woo.

    As someone with a real, serious, life-threatening set of endocrine disorders, I really don't appreciate people who make up their own diagnoses.
  • ilex70
    ilex70 Posts: 727 Member
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    aylajane wrote: »
    Thanks both of you for the discussion.

    After my results for B12 came by high, despite having all the symptoms of b12 deficiency (totally numb fingers/toes, cold interolance, fatigue, painful muscles, dizziness on standing, etc), I did some research and saw the articles on how serum b12 can be high but "active' b12 still be deficient. My b12 was > 2000 without any supplements or high b12 foods. I have had a sleeve done, and so I assumed my stomach was not making the intrinsic factor necessary to metabolize it, and so I was really deficient - I asked my doctor to let me try the shots of b12 because it really cant hurt since you cannot overdose on it. My doctor would not even read the article about it and thinks it must simply be from too much food with it and says she cannot give me the shots with my levels so high. So I have been supplementing on my own with suligual and spray B12, as well as D - very high doses, for the last month. It "helps" some, but not much.

    I also have low(er) blood pressure (90/60 sitting or standing or running), dizziness a lot, occasionally kidney area pain in lower back, pretty sever hypoglycemic episodes where I have to eat or I think I will die, odd panic/anxiety attacks in ways I have never expierienced, painful muscles (a year ago I could deadlift 225 and was in great shape, in the past 6 months i rapidly fell to where I struggle with 135 now, and all lifts hurt). I also cannot be in a car or sitting still without falling asleep. Driving is a serious hazard. I have the worst brain fog ever - i feel like I am walking through jello. Things around me dont seem "real" like I am watching it on tv or something. My periods are irregular for the first time in my life and I have cramps for the first time since high school. Everything seems to point to hormonal issues, which is why I went to endo. But none of my levels are extreme enough for him to think anything is wrong. All are just near the low end (except testosterone, which was almost nonexistent but he says "doesnt normally cause issues in women"). I have an appt with gyno in a few weeks I am hopeful for some answers or help.

    All of this happened in the past 4-6 months, I could actually watch it happening and kept trying hard to fight it thinking I was just getting lazy. A year ago I was in the best shape of my life, totally active, working out every day, hiking for miles, running a few miles, energy to spare, sweating like crazy every workout. I now drag myself through each day and despite how much I try during a workout (I still do workouts to keep moving but they are sad and pathetic) - I think my body is incapable of sweating (its been months since I broke a sweat). I keep thinking I just have to power through it or try harder. I have good days and bad days, but the good days are a shadow of what they were and not happening often. There has to be something wrong, it all happened so sudden. But doctors are not coming up with anything, and at this point I am focusing on individual symptom relief through trial and error on my own.

    Have you checked in with your bariatric surgeon to see if it may be related to that? Or maybe they would prescribe the B12 for you.

    Other than that, do you have your ferritin number? I had some symptoms last spring. At first I was told that I was anemic "but not that bad...shouldn't cause symptoms". Well, guess my body didn't know that I wasn't supposed to have symptoms. Iron transfusions helped.
  • Lovee_Dove7
    Lovee_Dove7 Posts: 742 Member
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    It would be okay to have a cup of coffee in the morning, as that is when your cortisol levels should be at their highest. As the day progresses, cortisol levels should decline until they are at their lowest at night while you sleep.

    There is a supportive diet to help your adrenals, where you partition your slow-carbs through the day, the least at breakfast, more at lunch, the most at dinner. The idea is that if your intake of carbs are lower in the morning, this encourages cortisol release to increase your body's blood sugar. Hence encouraging higher cortisol in the morning. At dinner, your intake of carbs is the highest, encouraging your body to release less cortisol (in order to raise blood sugar), hence encouraging your body to have lower cortisol levels at night.

    It sounds like you need to take a look at your schedule and life style and make changes so you can rest and heal.
  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
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    aylajane wrote: »
    Just curious for those who are saying adrenal fatigue is not real... I am just starting to do some research on this after having been to an endocrinologist who said that while my cortisol is low, my testosterone is way low, d is low and b12 is super high - nothing is outside "normal" range except testosterone, but that "rarely causes issues in women". This is a very highly regarded endo. I actually could not stay awake while he was talking to me. But his final result for me was "not endocrine related" and sent me back to my primary doc.

    Someone suggested I look up adrenal fatigue and I almost fell over - EVERY SINGLE SYMPTOM on their list is why I went to my primary doc in the first place.

    In my limited research so far, I see two very different camps - it is real but unrecognized, or - like here - it is made up and you should go see a "real" doc.

    So I am a little lost on what to do now. I am excited that my symptoms correspond with other peoples, but i am not a "snake oil" type person and I firmly believe there must be a cause (diet, perimenopause, etc). I have tried the doctor route and am now desperate for help or something to try - but I am on my own as doctors say I am fine.

    Do you all have any other insight on this? I.e. if people who seek these naturopaths are suffering from a condition that is not real, but all have very common collection of symptoms, what is the "other" diagnosis that is being missed? Other options to look into that would mimic this?

    My thought right now is simply to try what I can that doesnt require paying someone and I already know is healthy - Ie. following an elimination type diet, using the AFS guidelines on what to eat. Getting more and better sleep, etc. But I dont want to spend months on this and still have same issue because there was an actual medical cause everyone missed.

    Any insight is appreciated.

    But the endocrinologist did NOT diagnose you with adrenal fatigue, right?

    The only way you actually have such as thing is if you have a primary diagnosis of Addison's, panhypopituitarism, etc. A real endocrinologist would be treating you for these things. You would be taking daily injections, tons of pills, and perhaps steroids.

    The rest is woo.

    As someone with a real, serious, life-threatening set of endocrine disorders, I really don't appreciate people who make up their own diagnoses.

    Wow, I think you misunderstood something I said. No - I was NOT diagnosed with this, and the endo told me my issues were NOT endocrine related and sent me back to my primary doc. I am not trying to make up my own diagnosis and I did not say I had adrenal fatigue - I said my symptoms line up perfectly with what the websites say about it, and that I was going to try the parts of their "solutions" that did not require a doctor and would not harm me (i.e. diet and lifestyle changes, etc).

    I could not give a flying rats a** what I have is called or related to - I am desperate for something, ANYTHING, that will help and I have tried my best to go through whatever tests and referrals my doctor wanted . Since they all come back and say I am "fine", and I know for a fact I am not "fine", I am left to do whatever I can on my own. I cannot live like this, and I will try anything I deem safe if it sounds like it will help.

    So sorry you are having issues, but please dont discount others suffering just because you deem yours "real" and everyone else's not. In my case, I just have not found out what to call it yet - and I dont care what that ends up being or if I never find it, as long as my life gets better than it is now.
  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
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    ilex70 wrote: »
    aylajane wrote: »
    Thanks both of you for the discussion.

    After my results for B12 came by high, despite having all the symptoms of b12 deficiency (totally numb fingers/toes, cold interolance, fatigue, painful muscles, dizziness on standing, etc), I did some research and saw the articles on how serum b12 can be high but "active' b12 still be deficient. My b12 was > 2000 without any supplements or high b12 foods. I have had a sleeve done, and so I assumed my stomach was not making the intrinsic factor necessary to metabolize it, and so I was really deficient - I asked my doctor to let me try the shots of b12 because it really cant hurt since you cannot overdose on it. My doctor would not even read the article about it and thinks it must simply be from too much food with it and says she cannot give me the shots with my levels so high. So I have been supplementing on my own with suligual and spray B12, as well as D - very high doses, for the last month. It "helps" some, but not much.

    I also have low(er) blood pressure (90/60 sitting or standing or running), dizziness a lot, occasionally kidney area pain in lower back, pretty sever hypoglycemic episodes where I have to eat or I think I will die, odd panic/anxiety attacks in ways I have never expierienced, painful muscles (a year ago I could deadlift 225 and was in great shape, in the past 6 months i rapidly fell to where I struggle with 135 now, and all lifts hurt). I also cannot be in a car or sitting still without falling asleep. Driving is a serious hazard. I have the worst brain fog ever - i feel like I am walking through jello. Things around me dont seem "real" like I am watching it on tv or something. My periods are irregular for the first time in my life and I have cramps for the first time since high school. Everything seems to point to hormonal issues, which is why I went to endo. But none of my levels are extreme enough for him to think anything is wrong. All are just near the low end (except testosterone, which was almost nonexistent but he says "doesnt normally cause issues in women"). I have an appt with gyno in a few weeks I am hopeful for some answers or help.

    All of this happened in the past 4-6 months, I could actually watch it happening and kept trying hard to fight it thinking I was just getting lazy. A year ago I was in the best shape of my life, totally active, working out every day, hiking for miles, running a few miles, energy to spare, sweating like crazy every workout. I now drag myself through each day and despite how much I try during a workout (I still do workouts to keep moving but they are sad and pathetic) - I think my body is incapable of sweating (its been months since I broke a sweat). I keep thinking I just have to power through it or try harder. I have good days and bad days, but the good days are a shadow of what they were and not happening often. There has to be something wrong, it all happened so sudden. But doctors are not coming up with anything, and at this point I am focusing on individual symptom relief through trial and error on my own.

    Have you checked in with your bariatric surgeon to see if it may be related to that? Or maybe they would prescribe the B12 for you.

    Other than that, do you have your ferritin number? I had some symptoms last spring. At first I was told that I was anemic "but not that bad...shouldn't cause symptoms". Well, guess my body didn't know that I wasn't supposed to have symptoms. Iron transfusions helped.

    I no longer see the surgeon, but the endo was fully versed in the surgery I had and does a lot of follow up on it. When he first saw me he was convinced I must be malnourished and missing vitamins and minerals. When the tests all came back fine except low D and cortisol (and testosterone) and very high B12, he gave up that theory and basically had nothing more to say to me. He did a second follow up test that showed again I had low(er) cortisol (before 8am) but not low enough to do anything. He officially wrote down "not endocrine related" and to go back to my primary. My primary says she cannot see a cause based on the tests, and the items that are low are not low enough to be causing this.

    I had iron tested awhile back but I dont think they did it again this time. You are right, I wonder if my body is just unaware of the "normal range" numbers lol. Thanks :)


  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
    edited March 2016
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    It would be okay to have a cup of coffee in the morning, as that is when your cortisol levels should be at their highest. As the day progresses, cortisol levels should decline until they are at their lowest at night while you sleep.

    There is a supportive diet to help your adrenals, where you partition your slow-carbs through the day, the least at breakfast, more at lunch, the most at dinner. The idea is that if your intake of carbs are lower in the morning, this encourages cortisol release to increase your body's blood sugar. Hence encouraging higher cortisol in the morning. At dinner, your intake of carbs is the highest, encouraging your body to release less cortisol (in order to raise blood sugar), hence encouraging your body to have lower cortisol levels at night.

    It sounds like you need to take a look at your schedule and life style and make changes so you can rest and heal.

    These are the kind of things I was planning to try. Someone told me the other day to look up adrenal fatigue as I had not heard of it and the first sites I read were all the "positive" ones that believe in it. I was excited thinking maybe I had finally figured this out. Then I started reading some like this one where it is not "real". That is what I was doing today when I found this thread - I searched for it on these boards to see more opinions.

    I think I understand that it is probably not "real" syndrome as everyone here has said, but I dont see the harm in following some of the dietary and lifestyle advice to see if it can help. If it doesnt, I will keep searching. It doesnt matter if it is truly adrenal related - better sleep, less stress and eating better certainly cant hurt.

    Thank you for the suggestions.
  • brendak76
    brendak76 Posts: 241 Member
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    aylajane wrote: »
    ilex70 wrote: »
    aylajane wrote: »
    Thanks both of you for the discussion.

    After my results for B12 came by high, despite having all the symptoms of b12 deficiency (totally numb fingers/toes, cold interolance, fatigue, painful muscles, dizziness on standing, etc), I did some research and saw the articles on how serum b12 can be high but "active' b12 still be deficient. My b12 was > 2000 without any supplements or high b12 foods. I have had a sleeve done, and so I assumed my stomach was not making the intrinsic factor necessary to metabolize it, and so I was really deficient - I asked my doctor to let me try the shots of b12 because it really cant hurt since you cannot overdose on it. My doctor would not even read the article about it and thinks it must simply be from too much food with it and says she cannot give me the shots with my levels so high. So I have been supplementing on my own with suligual and spray B12, as well as D - very high doses, for the last month. It "helps" some, but not much.

    I also have low(er) blood pressure (90/60 sitting or standing or running), dizziness a lot, occasionally kidney area pain in lower back, pretty sever hypoglycemic episodes where I have to eat or I think I will die, odd panic/anxiety attacks in ways I have never expierienced, painful muscles (a year ago I could deadlift 225 and was in great shape, in the past 6 months i rapidly fell to where I struggle with 135 now, and all lifts hurt). I also cannot be in a car or sitting still without falling asleep. Driving is a serious hazard. I have the worst brain fog ever - i feel like I am walking through jello. Things around me dont seem "real" like I am watching it on tv or something. My periods are irregular for the first time in my life and I have cramps for the first time since high school. Everything seems to point to hormonal issues, which is why I went to endo. But none of my levels are extreme enough for him to think anything is wrong. All are just near the low end (except testosterone, which was almost nonexistent but he says "doesnt normally cause issues in women"). I have an appt with gyno in a few weeks I am hopeful for some answers or help.

    All of this happened in the past 4-6 months, I could actually watch it happening and kept trying hard to fight it thinking I was just getting lazy. A year ago I was in the best shape of my life, totally active, working out every day, hiking for miles, running a few miles, energy to spare, sweating like crazy every workout. I now drag myself through each day and despite how much I try during a workout (I still do workouts to keep moving but they are sad and pathetic) - I think my body is incapable of sweating (its been months since I broke a sweat). I keep thinking I just have to power through it or try harder. I have good days and bad days, but the good days are a shadow of what they were and not happening often. There has to be something wrong, it all happened so sudden. But doctors are not coming up with anything, and at this point I am focusing on individual symptom relief through trial and error on my own.

    Have you checked in with your bariatric surgeon to see if it may be related to that? Or maybe they would prescribe the B12 for you.

    Other than that, do you have your ferritin number? I had some symptoms last spring. At first I was told that I was anemic "but not that bad...shouldn't cause symptoms". Well, guess my body didn't know that I wasn't supposed to have symptoms. Iron transfusions helped.

    I no longer see the surgeon, but the endo was fully versed in the surgery I had and does a lot of follow up on it. When he first saw me he was convinced I must be malnourished and missing vitamins and minerals. When the tests all came back fine except low D and cortisol (and testosterone) and very high B12, he gave up that theory and basically had nothing more to say to me. He did a second follow up test that showed again I had low(er) cortisol (before 8am) but not low enough to do anything. He officially wrote down "not endocrine related" and to go back to my primary. My primary says she cannot see a cause based on the tests, and the items that are low are not low enough to be causing this.

    I had iron tested awhile back but I dont think they did it again this time. You are right, I wonder if my body is just unaware of the "normal range" numbers lol. Thanks :)


    Any mention of Addison's disease? Low cortisol blood tests are a sign of that. What was your endos opinion about the abnormal blood tests? Has he done adrenal antibody testing? My son has Addisons and a crisis can be fatal if not treated.

  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
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    No, the endo didnt think after the second test was low enough to warrant any more testing or even to see me anymore. Said my issues were "not endocrine related". He didnt discuss anything with me really. The range for testoterone for women was 8-16 I think and mine came back "<3" - I specifically asked about that as some of the symptoms of low testerone in women are very similar (muscle weakness, etc), but he only said it "rarely causes issues for women".

    My primary offered to refer me to another for a second opinion "if you really want", but I spent a lot of money on the first one, and he is very well known in this area. So I guess I have to trust him. My only problem is that basically leaves me on my own to figure out what is wrong with me, since there is definitely something wrong with me.

  • Colorscheme
    Colorscheme Posts: 1,179 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Adrenal fatigue is not a real medical condition. Adrenal insufficiency, yes [like Addison's]. Adrenal fatigue, nope. https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/fatigued-by-a-fake-disease/
  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
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    Yes, I am starting to get that. However, you have to admit that enough people have identified with this "condition" that there is something to it - ie maybe the explanation "adrenal fatigue" is wrong, but that does not mean that the thousands of people who meet that specific list of symptoms do not have a real condition - there just is no explanation yet. I find it incredibly hard to believe that there are thousands of people who are suffering in almost the exact same way I am, yet there is nothing wrong with any of us.

    So saying it is not "a real medical condition" is fine, but the whole point of me coming here was looking for relief for something that is a very "real" medical condition. I dont care what it ends up being called or what the explanation looks like, I just need a solution.

    So... anything to offer people who thought they had this non-real medical condition? What do you suggest would cause all the symptoms they claim? Its easy to say "thats not it", but much harder to say what "it" actually is instead. And telling someone they dont have something does NOT change anything. It just makes them feel more hopeless and like you are saying it is all imagined. I am not imagining this, and I cant believe if I did I would imagine exactly what all these other people did.
  • TRC64
    TRC64 Posts: 22 Member
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    I got many of the same symptoms of adrenal fatigue when I started going through menopause. I had several years of perimenopause where I literally felt worse than I ever had in my life. My worst symptoms were severe insomnia and crashing fatigue (the two weren't necessarily related) but I also had the brain fog, would often get dizzy when standing up too quickly, had odd bouts of vertigo ... and probably a ton of others that I just don't remember, lol.

    I don't know your age, but you did mention perimenopause, so I just wanted to throw my experience out there.
  • Nikkei74
    Nikkei74 Posts: 48 Member
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    You have a set of symptoms that match a variety of diagnoses. And it could be that none of them are related to your vitamin D, B12 or testosterone levels. The fatigue, pain, and lack of strength match up with some sort of virus, fibromyalgia, or SLE, just for starters. The problem with an assumption of adrenal fatigue - either as a result of self-diagnosis or via a visit to a CAM practitioner - is that the real diagnosis will be missed. Regardless, I hope you find a way to treat your problem soon.
  • ronjsteele1
    ronjsteele1 Posts: 1,064 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Since you seem to be medically oriented I would suggest looking for a functional medicine doctor (they are MD's) in your area. *Most* people do not feel well if their hormones are not in the upper 1/3 of the range the AMA uses and it sounds like yours are quite low. A functional medicine doctor will treat based on how you feel, not just what your numbers say. Low testosterone will most certainly cause a woman to not feel well. Testosterone is only one of the hormones that helps to provide energy. Like I said, you probably need to look for a functional medicine doctor.
  • positivepowers
    positivepowers Posts: 902 Member
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    queenbrc wrote: »
    I have to take hydroxycut hardcore to caffeinate my body enough to be able to stay up all day. If I do not caffeinate myself enough in the morning, I will not be able to stop myself from going to sleep at work or home. They say your body recovers in its sleep...I feel like my body's battlestation has been shut down for several days. I have not been able to "thoroughly recover" for years. I need to be able to really relax and allow my body to shut down.

    If you truly have adrenal fatigue, the worst thing for you is caffeine.
  • positivepowers
    positivepowers Posts: 902 Member
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    aylajane wrote: »
    Just curious for those who are saying adrenal fatigue is not real... I am just starting to do some research on this after having been to an endocrinologist who said that while my cortisol is low, my testosterone is way low, d is low and b12 is super high - nothing is outside "normal" range except testosterone, but that "rarely causes issues in women". This is a very highly regarded endo. I actually could not stay awake while he was talking to me. But his final result for me was "not endocrine related" and sent me back to my primary doc.

    Someone suggested I look up adrenal fatigue and I almost fell over - EVERY SINGLE SYMPTOM on their list is why I went to my primary doc in the first place.

    In my limited research so far, I see two very different camps - it is real but unrecognized, or - like here - it is made up and you should go see a "real" doc.

    So I am a little lost on what to do now. I am excited that my symptoms correspond with other peoples, but i am not a "snake oil" type person and I firmly believe there must be a cause (diet, perimenopause, etc). I have tried the doctor route and am now desperate for help or something to try - but I am on my own as doctors say I am fine.

    Do you all have any other insight on this? I.e. if people who seek these naturopaths are suffering from a condition that is not real, but all have very common collection of symptoms, what is the "other" diagnosis that is being missed? Other options to look into that would mimic this?

    My thought right now is simply to try what I can that doesnt require paying someone and I already know is healthy - Ie. following an elimination type diet, using the AFS guidelines on what to eat. Getting more and better sleep, etc. But I dont want to spend months on this and still have same issue because there was an actual medical cause everyone missed.

    Any insight is appreciated.

    Dr. Wilson helped me. I was on his program for 18 months. It's painful, confusing and too easily confused for "psychosomatic."
    https://adrenalfatigue.org/
    http://adrenalfatiguesolution.com/adrenal-fatigue-symptoms/
  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
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    Since you seem to be medically oriented I would suggest looking for a functional medicine doctor (they are MD's) in your area. *Most* people do not feel well if their hormones are not in the upper 1/3 of the range the AMA uses and it sounds like yours are quite low. A functional medicine doctor will treat based on how you feel, not just what your numbers say. Low testosterone will most certainly cause a woman to not feel well. Testosterone is only one of the hormones that helps to provide energy. Like I said, you probably need to look for a functional medicine doctor.

    I had never heard of that before the last few days - didnt realize these existed. Are there criteria for them you should watch for? I know with chiropractors its been hit or miss for myself and most people - you get some really really good ones and some not so good...

    But I definitely am interested in looking into this. I dont really care if whatever I have has a name or anything, I simply want the symptoms to go away - and I mentioned to my doctor that everything seemed to be hormone related, but she didnt think it was an issue. Thank you for the suggestion - any other insights are appreciated!
  • aylajane
    aylajane Posts: 979 Member
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    TRC64 wrote: »
    I got many of the same symptoms of adrenal fatigue when I started going through menopause. I had several years of perimenopause where I literally felt worse than I ever had in my life. My worst symptoms were severe insomnia and crashing fatigue (the two weren't necessarily related) but I also had the brain fog, would often get dizzy when standing up too quickly, had odd bouts of vertigo ... and probably a ton of others that I just don't remember, lol.

    I don't know your age, but you did mention perimenopause, so I just wanted to throw my experience out there.

    I was really wondering about this. I do have an appt with the gyno in a few weeks (cannot believe how long you have to wait - and I called several since I dont have one normally). I am about the right age (44) and since everything seemed pretty much related to hormones, I was thinking this might be it. Thought my primary would either agree or disagree about it as a possibility but she didnt. Will see what the next doc says. Thank you for sharing- it sounds a lot like what I am experiencing. Just hope there is a solution other than "wait it out"...